A TV newswoman and her cameraman were both assaulted during a live broadcast while covering the arrival of refugees into Italy from Africa.
Francesca Parisella, a reporter for Matrix Channel 5 in Rome, was showing viewers the scene at the Roman train station where the refugees, who had reportedly entered the country on their way to northern Europe, were camped out and sleeping on the sidewalk outside the terminal.
“Their hope is especially to reach Milan … and then to move to Northern Europe,” she told viewers. “It’s important to know that this reception …”
Suddenly, the camera drops and shouts are heard.
Watch video of the attack:
[jwplayer WBQwf3DW]
The next words out of Parisella’s mouth are, “We’ve been assaulted.”
“What’s happening, Francesca?” anchor Nicola Porro asks from the studio as Parisella and her colleague run for their lives.
“They assaulted us, Nicola,” she blurts out.
Porro advises Parisella to leave the area immediately.
She’s then heard screaming in terror: “What do you want? You’re crazy!”
Porro instructs the show’s producer to call police.
“Oh God, Francesca, get out of there,” he says while looking into the camera.
Parisella, who was not injured in the attack, was whisked away from the mob by a cab driver named Roberto.
She later took to social media to thank him: “Roberto saved my life.”
